Monday, September 12, 2005

Walt Disney's Impact on Animation Blog Post # 2

Walt Disney has dramatically changed animation through his talent as a genius director and teacher. Even thirty years after his death he is not only remembered but we still continue to struggle to grasp his ideas and creations. Disney was truly inspiring and was able to inspire everyone who came into contact with him. He pioneered the fields of animation, and found new ways to teach, and educate. Walt Disney has had one of the most important impacts on the development of animated cartoons.Walt Disney affected animation profoundly through the ways in which he advanced the art of animation. Disney synchronized sound and music with his cartoons and was one of the first to advance in color animation. Through the years he found other areas of improvement by the institution of the pencil test as well as the multi-plane camera just to name a few. Walt Disney has not only affected animation through his technological advances but through his characters as well. His most famous character Mickey mouse is known the world over. Starting with Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse has been cherished for generations. Within two years of Mickey Mouse's debut he had become a "National celebrity with a bigger screen following than nine tenths of Hollywood" (Maltin p. 36).

Walt Disney has been hailed as "the Father of Animation" and I couldn't agree more. He brought us his vision which ultimately transformed the entertainment industry. Walt Disney's worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals by which the man lived. His imagination, his optimism, and his self-made success is a symbol of the American dream. Through his animation he brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past and will forever be remembered and loved.

(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books, New York 2005. Page 36

5 Comments:

Who can argue with that. Walt Disney is the man. He was before his time. How crazy would Disney animation as well as its theme parks be if Walt were alive today and was able to use all of the new technology. Pretty scary. His whole body of work was innovation after innovation and classic after classic. My favorite rides at Disney are not the new ones with the flashy effects (Mission Space for example *cough horrible ride cough) but the classic ones for which Walt was around to design. For example, Pirates of the Caribean, Peter Pan, not to mention Epcot and it's revolutionary views into the future(at least it was until Walt passed, now it's just a excuse for them to advertise "revolutionary" products such as cars, phones, computers, games, etc.)Anyways good post, it got me reminiscing.

Isn't it funny how far Disney has come since its humble beginnings? When you think even back to our time of "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast", you can see what leaps and bounds they have taken. Pehaps it is the ability to relate with Disneys characters that make them so loveable to us, or maybe it is the simple joy of watching a talking candlestick quarrel with a talking clock that draws us back to Disney movies and keeps up wanting more.

Could you see yourself not growing up with Walt Disney? How do you think Walt Disney had an impact on our generation's take on literary concepts such as character development, plot, setting etc? Growing up with Disney implanet into the viewer's brain how to look for visual clues about whether the person or setting was good or bad. An example of this Disney's use of color or the simple technique of having good character have more rounded features and bad character have more angluar features.

I appreciate your sticking up for Disney. I have had three comments expressing the sentiment: "Down with Disney." Of course you are right about the way Walt Disney revolutionized the trade which never really stopped changing thanks to him. I haven't seen any of the old-time Disney movies (Bambi, Snow White, Cinderella, Dumbo, etc, etc...), but the ones that I have seen are great. Aladdin is the best, with The Lion King a close second, but all of these movies are good, wholesome, entertainment and promote common decency to kids. Recently, some cartoons have gotten away from that, but we will always have Disney to fall back on (except those "hidden" sexual scenes).

Walt Disney is one of the greatest. Did you know he use to give out cash rewards to his artists? He encouraged them to explore their own imaginations, so that they could come up with humorous and original gags. They had a studio where they would just play around and make sound for the animations.I definately agree that Walt was ahead of his time. His work and his team left something for us as children to grow up with as well as help inspire future artists.